Gin, prep. Etym: [AS. geán. See Again.]
Definition: Against; near by; towards; as, gin night. [Scot.] A. Ross (1778).
Gin, conj. Etym: [See Gin, prep.]
Definition: If. [Scotch] Jamieson.
Gin, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Gan, Gon (Gun (p. pr. & vb. n. Ginning.] Etym: [OE. ginnen, AS. ginnan (in comp.), prob. orig., to open, cut open, cf. OHG. inginnan to begin, open, cut open, and prob. akin to AS. ginan to yawn, and E. yawn. Yawn, v. i., and cf. Begin.]
Definition: To begin; -- often followed by an infinitive without to; as, gan tell. See Gan. [Obs. or Archaic] "He gan to pray." Chaucer.
Gin, n. Etym: [Contr. from Geneva. See 2d Geneva.]
Definition: A strong alcoholic liquor, distilled from rye and barley, and flavored with juniper berries; -- also called Hollands and Holland gin, because originally, and still very extensively, manufactured in Holland. Common gin is usually flavored with turpentine.
Gin, n. Etym: [A contraction of engine.]
1. Contrivance; artifice; a trap; a snare. Chaucer. Spenser.
2. (a) A machine for raising or moving heavy weights, consisting of a tripod formed of poles united at the top, with a windlass, pulleys, ropes, etc. (b) (Mining) A hoisting drum, usually vertical; a whim.
3. A machine for separating the seeds from cotton; a cotton gin.
Note: The name is also given to an instrument of torture worked with screws, and to a pump moved by rotary sails. Gin block, a simple form of tackle block, having one wheel, over which a rope runs; -- called also whip gin, rubbish pulley, and monkey wheel.
– Gin power, a form of horse power for driving a cotton gin.
– Gin race, or Gin ring, the path of the horse when putting a gin in motion. Halliwell.
– Gin saw, a saw used in a cotton gin for drawing the fibers through the grid, leaving the seed in the hopper.
– Gin wheel. (a) In a cotton gin, a wheel for drawing the fiber through the grid; a brush wheel to clean away the lint. (b) (Mining) the drum of a whim.
Gin, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Ginned; p. pr. & vb. n. Ginning.]
1. To catch in a trap. [Obs.] Beau. & Fl.
2. To clear of seeds by a machine; as, to gin cotton.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
27 June 2025
(adjective) having four equal sides and four right angles or forming a right angle; “a square peg in a round hole”; “a square corner”
The first coffee-house in Mecca dates back to the 1510s. The beverage was in Turkey by the 1530s. It appeared in Europe circa 1515-1519 and was introduced to England by 1650. By 1675 the country had more than 3,000 coffee houses, and coffee had replaced beer as a breakfast drink.
